ATP - Monte Carlo Masters Wednesday Matches Preview

Lopez Feliciano (ESP) vs. Ferrer David (ESP)
Feliciano Lopez fought back to oust Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic to book a date with his compatriot David Ferrer. He ended a four losing strike in first round beating Tipsarevic, the Serb once more showed his mental fragile in the match as it was a match that he should win in two sets. He still had to catch a serving day firing 18 aces with only two double faults but was more the Serb who slept the match. He will meet Ferrer who reached semi-finals last year losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. Ferrer also looked in good form recently and overall he beat Lopez twice on clay, the recent one in Monte-Carlo back in 2009, while Lopez leads the head-to-head with 6-3. The weather starts to drop some degrees and conditions will became slower but will be the first match of the day and still conditions are a little bit faster and Lopez will found once more some rhythm on serve, the match against Tipsarevice was played at same time and conditions. A win from Lopez wouldn't be a surprize.

Gasquet Richard (FRA) vs. Garcia-Lopez Guillermo (ESP)
Gasquet started the match against Istomin tensioned and he declared after the match that couldn’t explain what happened, maybe was the transition from hard to clay but the Frenchman is from a couple of days in Monte Carlo training.

He managed to get well past the tension and bounced back ending the match in solid form. He was a little bit off on serve, only 48% of first serve in but his ground game looked compact. He will meet Garcia-Lopez for the third time in his career but the head-to-head is old as the meetings are back in 2005. The Spaniard had a much easier pass in the second round as he beat easily the qualifier Millot, wasn’t an easy match but he played aggressive and founded quickly the depth of his shots to penetrate the Frenchman’s defense. Gasquet is a player who can mix up on court more, he showed recently a solid defense from the back of the court as he can create winners even that he is a step back on court. The Spaniard has the power in his side and will try to play with long and deep balls but the Frenchman should take this one as looks the player who has more option in defensive as well in offensive.

Mayer Florian (GER) vs. Gil Frederico (POR)
Florian Mayer produced a solid match against Youzhny and managed to win in two hours against the Russian. The Russian was broken seven times by the German, and despite producing six breaks of his own, he could not deter Mayer who set up a second-round meeting with Portugal's Federico Gil.Mayer made a smart match putting a lot of drop shots to break the rhythm and bring his opponent to the net, something that will do here too as Gil isn’t comfortable at the net, but the key of the match will be the level of fitness of the German as he looked a little bit exhausted in the end. Gil continued his solid run in qualifications with a convincing win over Stakhovsky. The Portuguese needs to keep the ball in play and force long rallies as in a tough match he looks the fresher one. Value in the odds we have for the portuguesse. (2.62 @ Betfair at the moment)

Fognini Fabio (ITA) vs. Troicki Viktor (SRB)
Italian advanced in the second round coming from a set behind against Anderson, but the Italian’s likes the hard way. He was off in the first set, especially on first serve with only 33% but then he improved his serve and found depth on forehand wing while Anderson sought medical time out for back problems which allowed to the Italian to cruise. He will meet now Troicki who passed through local Lisnard but also had a tough match, especially the first set as in the second Lisnard’s level of fitness was off. It will be an interesting meeting as Troicki relies on his powerful serve and hard hitting from the back of the court while Fognini will rely on his solid defense but the Italian didn’t impress too much but when he pushed he was easily up front. The Serb can resist well in long rallies, he has wins over Monaco, Maximo Gonzalez or Seppi on clay. This can be a tricky match and Fognini could get something out of it.

Montanes Albert (ESP) vs. Simon Gilles (FRA)
Albert Montanes reached the second round with a routine win over Xavier Malisse, the Spaniard controlled well the match showing a lot of determination on court to defend his points. Simon advance with a win over Thomaz Bellucci and even that the Frenchman was solid on court it was Bellucci who was putting in a bad display as only partial pressured Simon. "It was a good match. I'm happy. It was a good fight. I knew I had to play well because every time I dropped my level of game, he was coming back. So it was a good first round." – said Simon. H2h is 2-1 for Montanes, with the Spaniard wining the most recent one back in 2009 in Estoril. The Spaniard served well and he has a lot of points to defend on clay this year while Simon is yet to impress on clay, was a little bit of on the rhythm from Casablanca, Montanes resist well in long rallies like Starace. Odds on Montanes are value in my opinion. (2.26 now @ Betfair)

Gimeno-Traver Daniel (ESP) vs. Monfils Gael (FRA)
Out of play since mid-February, Monfils is delighted to starts the clay season but he started to train a week ago and the red dirt is one of the most demanding surfaces on tour. “I do not feel much pain. I picked up a racquet a week ago, this is not much but enough to reassure me. It is a traitorous injury, you can do anything except backhand. For the moment I lack rhythm, but I hope it will come soon. “ – said Monfils. He will meet Gimeno-Traver who took the first win this year against Santiago Gonzalez and the Spaniard showed a solid tennis on court assuming some chances in offensive. They met once, last year in Stuttgart and the Frenchman won in three sets, the Frenchman will move more to hit with the forehand as still is luck of rhythm on backhand wing, he is the better player on court but his level of fitness is questionable so a bet on the spaniard would do it here.

Cilic Marin (CRO) vs. Riba Pere (ESP)
Fifteenth seed Marin Cilic scored an easy win at the 2011 Monte Carlo Masters, defeating qualifier Filippo Volandri in straight sets at the first round. The Croat controlled the match on serve and from the back of the court showing a good depth on both wings. He will meet another qualifier grinder, Pere Riba who benefit by the recent run of the Italian to advance further. Starace had steams only for one set and even that he put a lot of fight on court was Riba who saw the opportunity and keeping his errors low advanced further. Cilic showed a good form in first match against a tricky opponent, he started aggressive and never looked back and if he will play the same he would win in easily two sets.

Gonzalez Maximo (ARG) vs. Almagro Nicolas (ESP)
The ninth-seeded Almagro rolled past fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers. He was solid on first serve while he suffered on the second delivery making some errors on court but overall wasn’t in danger to lose the match. He will meet another clay specialist who kept his form from qualifications beating Hanescu in first round. Was a good match from the Argentine who enters with a good morale here, he won a lot of rallies and he was compact on court. A match between two clay courts specialist, one is in great form on clay in ATP level while the other is in Challenger level. Also, they have different styles, Almagro is more aggressive while the Argentine is more defensive and relies on consistency from the back of the court and forcing errors from opponent. Both are in their best surface, the Argentine looked solid even that he lost a set against Hanescu.

Verdasco Fernando (ESP) vs. Robredo Tommy (ESP)
One of the trickiest matches today as the match can go easily either way. Both players are in unknown form, Robredo was in good form in South Africa with a title and a semi-final but he withdrew with injury in Indian Wells and Miami while last year runner-up is showing only glimpses of his form. Also last year Verdasco came in poor form but he had a great clay season with final here and title in Barcelona and overall Monte-Carlo is always a place that he likes to be in. Both knows each other game very well and the differences on court will be made by a point here and there, Robredo has one match here as he easily beat Dodig in first round looking in good form and injury free but with Verdasco having a lot of points to defend the first match on clay is vital, he will be very determinate on court.

Nadal Rafael (ESP) vs. Nieminen Jarkko (FIN)
Rafael Nadal is back in Monte Carlo and is in searching of his seven title consecutive here. The Spaniard will be under pressure in the month will come as he has a lot of points to defend and overall his shape was doubtful in his long matches with Djokovic as he looked a little bit exhausted. Also the opening round is very important as how will start he will send a message to other players that he is in good form or not. He will meet in first round another left handed who advanced after a tough match against Benneteau, the Finn needing a lot of time to break French resistance. We see Nadal to start very aggressive and wanted to finish the match easily and not stay too much on court and with a quick break we don’t see the Finn to put the same fight on court.

Murray Andy (GBR) vs. Stepanek Radek (CZE)
The Scot has endured a slump since the Australian Open final and when he takes on Radek Stepanek, the experienced Czech, in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters, he will be trying to snap a four-match losing streak that includes first-match defeats in Rotterdam, Indian Wells and Miami. Murray is to take advantage of the Adidas player development programme and he plans to consult them in tournaments in Madrid and Rome next month and in the build-up to the French Open in Paris. Not a good strategy yet for the Britt who is one of the trickiest player on tour these days as he can produce a good tennis or make a lot of errors on court and it is better to skip this one and only watch to see where Murray is with the preparation for clay courts.

Melzer Jurgen (AUT) vs. Haase Robin (NED)
Robin Haase started in good form the clay season and even that Davydenko made some errors in key moments was the Dutchman who was aggressive and imposed the rhythm from the back of the court with controlled aggression. He was solid behind the serve even that he faced a lot of break points. Haase will meet for the second time Melzer who came here in questionable form. "My elbow is not 100% pain free but it is better than it was at the beginning of the year. The ankle is OK. I would like to play well here. It's a great tournament. It's a shame that I haven't been good here." – said the Austrian who is only 1/4 here. Haase is in better form and if he will keep the ball in play and will force long rallies he will have the upper hand as how the Austrian said he isn’t at his best.